The dream continues. The Under-20 National side have qualifed for the World Cup quarter-finals after beating England and getting payback for last year's loss at the Under-19 European Championships semi-final stage. At the Diego Armando Maradona stadium in La Plata, goals from Tommaso Baldanzi and Cesare Casadei (penalty) gave Carmine Nunziata's group of players a place in the final eight. Next up is Colombia, who beat Slovakia 5-1 in their last-16 tie, in San Juan on Saturday at 23:00 CEST. Out of the tournament are the hosts, Argentina, who were beaten by Nigeria. "It was a brilliant game, played in front of a crowd that were all spurring us on, and who I'd like to thank," commented Nunziata. "We are really pleased to have taken revenge from last year's defeat, but above all to progress through to the next round of this competition. We didn't only just defend well but we also played some good football, too, against a really strong opponent who are European champions. We've now got Colombia on Saturday who are a formidable team, but we've just beaten England Brazil in this tournament so that means Italy are also a top side." Scorer of the opening goal of the game, Tommaso Baldanzi, added: "We'll show our worth also on Saturday. We've got to this stage, we don't fear anyone."

Nunziata selected Fontanarosa to line up from the start, replacing the suspended Ghilardi. Up front, Pafundi was on the bench, with Baldanzi in behind Esposito and Ambrosino. Instead, for England, there was a first start for Chukwuemeka, who had arrived later than his teammates in Argentina following the end of Chelsea's season. Italy took the lead after eight minutes with two great pieces of individual play: Ambrosino slipped Baldanzi through with a perfect assist, who than slotted home past Cox. England replied with Joseph's shot across goal that was stopped by Desplanches. Devine then came dangerously close on the 15-minute mark when the Tottenham striker's left-footed shot rattled the crossbar. Baldanzi was in inspired mood and after 21 minutes the Empoli attacking midfielder's effort was saved by Cox. Three minutes later, though, the equaliser arrived: down the left-hand side, Scarlett's cross was perfectly met by Devine, who got ahead of Fontanarosa, and volleyed home with his left past Desplanches. Afterwards, the half was played out with a slow tempo and no further chances of note came. 

The second half also started off evenly: Casadei just missed the target, after an assist by Ambrosino (but it was flagged for offside), and then SPAL midfielder, Prati, hit a right-footed effort that was deflected behind for a corner just after the hour mark. On what was a heavy pitch, Nunziata made his first change on 74 minutes to try and freshen things up and give his side new impetus, with Montevago replacing Ambrosino. And on 83 minutes, the match was decided: from Casadei's left-footed attempt on the edge of the area, the referee was called over to review a VAR check for handball by Quansah. After taking careful consderation, he eventually indicated to the spot. Casadei stepped up and rifled it high into the right-hand corner past Cox to grab his fifth goal in four matches in this World Cup, following two braces against Brazil and Dominican Republic. Inevitably, there were eleven minutes of added-time, with Italy gritting their teeth and withstanding the Young Lions' pressure. Foster put on Doyle and Edozio but to no avail and the Azzurrini celebrations kicked off, as their Argentina dream continues. 

ENGLAND 1-2 ITALY
SCORERS: 8' Baldanzi (IT), 24' Devine (IN), 87' pen. Casadei (IT)
ENGLAND (3-4-2-1): Cox; Quansah (90+7' Delap), Edwards, Humpreys (90+7' Doyle); Norton-Cuffy (63' Oyegoke), Scott, Chukwuemeka, Vale (90+7' Edozie); Joseph (63' Gyabi), Devine; Scarlett. Unused subs: Beadle, Sharman-Lowe, Simons, Samuels, Jebbison. Head Coach: Foster
ITALY (4-3-1-2): Desplanches, Zanotti, Fontanarosa, Guarino, Turicchia; Prati, Faticanti, Casadei; Baldanzi (90+3' Giovane); Esposito (90+3' Fiumanò), Ambrosino (73' Montevago). Unused subs: Zacchi, Sassi, Pisilli, Lipani, Degli Innocenti, Pafundi. Head Coach: Nunziata
REFEREE: Abatti (Brasile)
ASSISTANTS: Alves, Camilo (Brazil) IV: Ospina (Colombia)
NOTE: bookings: Fontanarosa (IT), Quansah (IN). Added-time: 4' and 11'

Schedule and Round of 16 results

Tuesday 30 May
USA 4-0 New Zealand
Uzbekistan 0-1 Israel

Wednesday 31 May
Brazil 4-1 Tunisia
Colombia 5-1 Slovakia
England 1-2 ITALY
Argentina 0-2 Nigeria

Thursday 1 June
19.30 Gambia vs. Uruguay
23.00 Ecuador vs. South Korea

QUARTER-FINALS (3-4 June)
USA vs. Gambia/Uruguay
Israel vs. Brazil
Colombia vs. ITALY (Saturday 3 June, 23:00 CEST in San Juan)
Ecuador/South Korea vs. Nigeria

SEMI-FINALS: 8 June

FINALS: 11 June 

DOWNLOAD THE FULL SCHEDULE HERE

Squad List

Goalkeepers: Sebastiano Desplanches (Trento); Jacopo Sassi (Giugliano Calcio), Gioele Zacchi (Sassuolo);
Defenders: Filippo Fiumanò (Aquila Montevarchi); Alessandro Fontanarosa (Inter), Daniele Ghilardi (Mantova), Samuel Giovane (Ascoli), Gabriele Guarino (Empoli), Riccardo Turicchia (Juventus), Mattia Zanotti (Inter);
Midfielders: Tommaso Baldanzi (Empoli), Cesare Casadei (Reading F.C.), Duccio Degli Innocenti (Empoli), Giacomo Faticanti (Roma), Luca Lipani (Genoa), Niccolò Pisilli (Roma), Matteo Prati (SPAL);
Attackers: Giuseppe Ambrosino Di Bruttopilo (Cittadella), Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter), Daniele Montevago (Sampdoria), Simone Pafundi (Udinese).

Staff - Head of Delegation, Marcello Nicchi; Manager: Gianfranco Serioli ; Assistant Head Coach, Emanuele Filippini; Fitness Coach, Vito Azzone; Goalkeeping Coach, Fabrizio Ferron; Match Analyst, Marco Mannucci; Observer, Claudio Coppi; Doctors, Carmelo Papotto and Lorenzo Ticca; Physiotherapist, Giuseppe Galli and Tommaso Cannata; Nutritionist, Alessio Colli; Secretary, Aldo Blessich; Press Officer, Giuseppe Ingrati; Administration, Francesco Casella; Club Italia, Matteo Galdelli; Logistics, Carlo Fanano.

History

(number of Under-20 World Cups won)

Argentina (six), Brazil (five), Portugal (two), Serbia (two), Ghana (one) Spain (one), Russia (one), Germany (one), England (one), France (one), Ukraine (one, current champions).